scarletlatitude Posted September 20, 2015 Share Posted September 20, 2015 And I want to know who these "average" people are because my loans are well over $50 K. 5 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted September 20, 2015 Share Posted September 20, 2015 It's absurd. Education in places like the US and some of Canada is just terrible. I come from Europe, and I can't imagine for the life of me how a system can be built so that it's NORMAL to be indebted before you earn money. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Skycaptain Posted September 20, 2015 Share Posted September 20, 2015 The UK system is just the same. Just substitute the $ for £ and you get the general idea Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tarfeather Posted September 20, 2015 Share Posted September 20, 2015 It's absurd. Education in places like the US and some of Canada is just terrible. I come from Europe, and I can't imagine for the life of me how a system can be built so that it's NORMAL to be indebted before you earn money. Works just like that in Germany as well, and I expect most EU countries. Of course, government loans are a bit more forgiving than what you'd get in the US, but the idea still is that if you want a good education, either you've got wealthy parents or you sacrifice some of your early income to pay back your loans. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wayfarer Posted September 20, 2015 Share Posted September 20, 2015 In the Netherlands we used to have a system where we get part of our student loan as 'gift' if we finish our studies in less than 10 years (which most people manage easily). So most people don't have high debts when they're finished. However, they've just changed it so that the loan stays a loan. The costs here aren't as high as the US or UK, but still the younger generation (people starting this September and later) will all have a debt before they start work. It's something they gain money from, and 'will use it to improve education'. I've still yet to see any plans for education reform that make any kind of sense. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ebriff Posted September 20, 2015 Share Posted September 20, 2015 It's absurd. Education in places like the US and some of Canada is just terrible. I come from Europe, and I can't imagine for the life of me how a system can be built so that it's NORMAL to be indebted before you earn money. Works just like that in Germany as well, and I expect most EU countries. Of course, government loans are a bit more forgiving than what you'd get in the US, but the idea still is that if you want a good education, either you've got wealthy parents or you sacrifice some of your early income to pay back your loans. Some of your EARLY income? My cousin did the math the other day and found that he'll be paying his student loans off until he's in his 80s. And he only went to school for four years. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
scarletlatitude Posted September 20, 2015 Share Posted September 20, 2015 My undergraduate degree: about $40,000 Graduate degree: about $20,000 Prospective PhD: hopefully they will have the funds to pay for me... My younger sister graduated from a pretty impressive public university with about $95,0000 in debt. This is why I support government officials who have any kind of plan to take care of this problem. You shouldn't be 21 years old and worried about how you are going to be paying back almost $100,000 worth of loans. It's not right. I understand paying for some part of it (professors have to make a paycheck too), but $100,000 for four years is ridiculous. 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ebriff Posted September 20, 2015 Share Posted September 20, 2015 It's outrageous. The four-year university I graduated from once had a poll because they had a surplus (a freaking surplus!) of funds and they wanted to know how the students wanted it spent. This college had (of course) extremely limited parking, no liberal arts building (but yes, a liberal arts department!), and the science building was too small. The geology department had been pushed to a small wing of one building where the drop ceilings were collapsing. The students overwhelmingly voted for a parking garage. The school decided to use the money to build a fourth soccer field....for the two soccer teams we had. I read about some other college in New Jersey recently that dropped about $300,000 to build a new fountain. A FOUNTAIN! I mean, not that the college should be decrepit, but that money puts people in crippling debt and you're blowing it on frivolous things to justify raising tuition. It's backwards. It's loansharking. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
booksoversex Posted September 20, 2015 Share Posted September 20, 2015 I am Norwegian, so education is free here - except for a small semester fee of around 700 NOK (75 euros/dollars or so). And you have to buy the books yourself, but that's manageable when the actual courses are free. It's wonderful. I am so lucky to live in a country like this, I get really mad when people take all these things for granted - they were fought for, hard. In other countries people pay their arses of to get an education and here you try to skip class as much as possible so you can sleep until noon? It is provoking. But I guess it will always be like that. Norwegian students mostly still take up student loans, though, they mostly go to pay for housing (which is rather expensive). You get around 7500 a month (about 800 dollars/euros) but apartments often cost almost that to rent... So virtually all students have to work in addition to the studies to get by. 30% of the loan is turned into a grant when you pass your exams, and you can set up a payment plan which suits you after you graduate (you can also skip some payments if you're in a rough patch, they're very flexible that way). 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lil Posted September 20, 2015 Share Posted September 20, 2015 So catchup on the unemploymet thing. Signed a 0 hour contract as cover staff for a local nursery a few weeks ago and the never contacted me. They rang Friday and I have 34 hours of work next week! :) First work in 3 months I can't express how happy I am. And applied to 3 other jobs so fingers crossed everything will turn around soon. 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Skycaptain Posted September 20, 2015 Share Posted September 20, 2015 Lil, good for you getting started. But your situation does show the flaws in zero hours contracts 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tybalt Posted September 27, 2015 Share Posted September 27, 2015 My undergraduate degree: about $40,000 Graduate degree: about $20,000 Prospective PhD: hopefully they will have the funds to pay for me... My younger sister graduated from a pretty impressive public university with about $95,0000 in debt. This is why I support government officials who have any kind of plan to take care of this problem. You shouldn't be 21 years old and worried about how you are going to be paying back almost $100,000 worth of loans. It's not right. I understand paying for some part of it (professors have to make a paycheck too), but $100,000 for four years is ridiculous. I'm with you on that. I still haven't really seen anything out of my degree and the being in debt and not making the minimal payments is really starting to get to me. I mean, my debt is going up and I'm giving them about a quarter of my paycheck every month. I'm hoping one of these other jobs accepts my application so I can start to make a real dent in it. Just trying to keep on the positive side of things: I will eventually have a job that will pay me enough to pay back my loans. I will eventually be out of debt. And then... I don't know maybe a short coffee break. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
toprakkokusu Posted September 27, 2015 Share Posted September 27, 2015 I'm 27 and I still don't know who I am. I feel so alone. :( Quote Link to post Share on other sites
inactive12345 Posted September 28, 2015 Share Posted September 28, 2015 Recently turned 20. Other than college coursework being difficult, moving every four months for co-op employment, and the tuition debt that keeps stacking up, I can't really complain. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted September 28, 2015 Share Posted September 28, 2015 I'm 27 and I still don't know who I am. I feel so alone. :( Don't. This thread is full of people like you. Or at least, I know I'm sitting right there :) Honestly, I doubt people can "know who they are" at this age. To me, the search for the self is something that carries throughout life and never stops, especially considering the ever-changing nature of mankind. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Skycaptain Posted September 28, 2015 Share Posted September 28, 2015 If it's any consolation folks, I was 42 when I realised that I wasn't cis-hetero, and there are many others who discovered asexuality at a later date than me 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Auran Posted October 1, 2015 Share Posted October 1, 2015 I'm 27 and I still don't know who I am. I feel so alone. :( I feel for you. Many of us seem to struggle endlessly. Only hope and support can drive us forward. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MerePeasant Posted October 2, 2015 Share Posted October 2, 2015 I'm 27, too. ^_^ Funny how suddenly everyone's settling down around me and I'm still rather immature in many ways. Settle down? Nuuu! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MerePeasant Posted October 2, 2015 Share Posted October 2, 2015 ^ Gasp! Big step! I still live at home at the mo. :p Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Engineer201 Posted October 2, 2015 Share Posted October 2, 2015 I have to admit that from the outside, I probably look like I'm in a pretty good place - but inside, I have no idea what I'm doing or how it happened, or where to go from here... I always think that other people must have things figured out better than I do. I may or may not be moving out of my parents' house in the short term (before the year ends). :o You can do it! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Chihiro Posted October 11, 2015 Share Posted October 11, 2015 I'm 27 and I still don't know who I am. I feel so alone. :( I am in the same position as you. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
KendraPM Posted October 11, 2015 Share Posted October 11, 2015 I'm 27, too. ^_^ Funny how suddenly everyone's settling down around me and I'm still rather immature in many ways. Settle down? Nuuu! I'm 26, and I feel the same way. My best friend is a mother! :o And I don't even feel like I'm ready to be living with a guy. Maybe I could handle a serious relationship right now. But there's so many other things that I need to focus on. I'm barely taking care of myself, let alone being responsible for another life. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
deltaX Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 I'm only 21, and people around me are starting to get married or engaged. There are people I know from high school who are mothers. It's so bizarre, because I can barely handle my schoolwork and taking care of myself, but there are people my age who are able to commit to another person. It makes me feel very young and immature, even though objectively I'm probably not. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 I'm only 21, and people around me are starting to get married or engaged. There are people I know from high school who are mothers. It's so bizarre, because I can barely handle my schoolwork and taking care of myself, but there are people my age who are able to commit to another person. It makes me feel very young and immature, even though objectively I'm probably not. When I see those kinds of people, all I can think of is: "oh poor darlings, having such busy lives at my age, and look at me chilling and doing nothing whenever I damn please." :D Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LyraHW Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 Every one of my friends is in a long term relationship and/or has kidsin/from long term relationship.... and I sit here studying my Open University degree, paying off bills & debts and considering having a cat to be the biggest commitment I'm willing to make. Now if only I could find a job & place to live back up north :P 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
deltaX Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 In my opinion, committing to a cat is a better commitment that committing to a relationship and children :) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Chemic Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 I guess I'm lucky in that I'm 25 but none of my close friends are married, have kids, or are in serious relationships. One was engaged briefly, but I had this feeling it wasn't going to work (they got engaged less than a few months of dating and broke up about a year after getting engaged). If I'm really lucky, none of them will be getting married until I have a livable wage and, therefore, could afford to buy them a wedding gift or, in my best friend's case, the bridesmaid gown. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
marauders Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 "But I feel like those lost years will haunt me much later in life." - THIS. SO MUCH THIS. My parents think I'm kidding when I say I will never be able to retire. This is exactly why. I would've loved to start my retirement planning earlier and although I'm putting money away now, it's the tiniest sliver of an amount, because it's all I can do while still saving to move out (if I ever get a job to move to). I think that saving money--or, really, just money in general--is the number one stress in my life right now. I have a steady job, which is great, but I still feel like I'm living paycheck to paycheck. If I don't have a car payment due, then I have rent due, or student loans ( I don't even want to think about those right now), or car insurance, or my phone bill, or 5000 other things that need paid off. I've been trying really hard to pay things down, and I do see some success, but it makes saving money almost impossible beyond a few dollars here and there. I honestly doubt I'll be able to have any sort of real, concrete savings for a few more years. :/ Then I sometimes think about potential retirement, and I sometimes want to cry because I feel like it's just completely impossible to save that on top of everything else I'm 27, too. ^_^ Funny how suddenly everyone's settling down around me and I'm still rather immature in many ways. Settle down? Nuuu! I'm 26, and I feel the same way. My best friend is a mother! :o And I don't even feel like I'm ready to be living with a guy. Maybe I could handle a serious relationship right now. But there's so many other things that I need to focus on. I'm barely taking care of myself, let alone being responsible for another life. My best friend just got married this past July, and she is already talking about having kids, and it really made me think about this. I just really want to get my life together first, before I take on the responsibilities of helping someone else figure out their life and/or raise any other humans. I'm 27 and I still don't know who I am. I feel so alone. :( I feel for you; this sentence sums up my entire existence right now. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Amanina Posted October 18, 2015 Share Posted October 18, 2015 I posted here in June of this year, and holy crap things have changed in 3 and a half months. I finally moved out of my parents' house in September to be closer to school, and this week I bought my first car. My sister moved out of the country, and I've been taking that really hard. I haven't talked to my parents much since I left, I didn't even tell them I was moving out until I had the lease signed - probably not a great sign. They don't know I bought a car, either. I'm worried I won't be able to graduate this year, since the stress this term forced me to drop a class. These past three weeks have been hell in terms of schoolwork, health coverage, and trying to stay functional. It doesn't help that I have a thing for someone and I'm pretty sure it would never work out for various reasons. I keep remembering that they know enough about me to seriously hurt me if they chose - not many people have that kind of information. =S 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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